Man oh man, the Pandemic has been hard. The lock-down, the worry, stress, the grief, the loss, and uncertainty have been unlike what most of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes, in that way we have been pretty lucky. As we move through this pandemic, the reopening of countries, states, and towns brings another round of stress, uncertainty and masks! So for example, we think the reopening of say a Garden Center will bring relief but when we arrive we have to navigate a totally new experience of the Garden Center, with clean hands, masks, one-way aisles and visions of Covid 19 respiratory droplets floating through the air. Moving through the new rules has not brought relief from uncertainty and stress, in fact navigating through the ever-changing way of life along with the uncertainty of when this will ever end has brought continued stress, worry, and grief to many if not all of us.
Mental Health Care workers are seeing a second pandemic, that is a new wave of folks suffering from mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and stress. Folks are reaching out for help in unprecedented numbers to Help Lines set up to answer calls, professionals conducting appointments by phone and peer volunteer support to name a few.
My Mom, born during the Great Depression and whose childhood included World War II really helped me gain perspective on how to handle the Pandemic when it first arrived. I was saying to her how worried I was about how children were going to handle all this Covid 19 stuff. Her answer, was, ” I guess the same way we handled World War II”! How was that I asked? Well she said, “President Roosevelt came on the radio and explained that we were at war and things would change and we would all be asked to do our part and one day, we don’t know when it will be over. We survived we were Resilient”said my Mom.
My ears perked up both as a Resiliency Coach and one who has been through many, many of life’s storms and survived and thrived. My Mom, I thought is 100% right, what we all need to get through this pandemic is to be resilient. Resilience has many definitions, but the one I like the best is that Resiliency is a set of traits, actions, and behaviors that allows us to pass through difficult times and emerge not only unscathed but stronger for the experience. It is an attitude, a state of being not a one-time thing.
To me one of the best tools for getting through anything tough is having a plan. It makes so much sense! Getting through a hard time is very much like a journey and like a road trip we need a map or an itinerary. I first learned this idea from my own Life Coach, a number of years ago. My husband and I survived a nearly fatal car accident he with a broken neck. I was feeling quite overwhelmed and my coach said you need a plan! She was right, once I got a plan, I knew I could cope and thrive.
To Make a PERSONAl PANDEMIC PLAN consider including the following:
- Stay in touch with others. Be creative, with phone calls. Zoom, Skype, maybe even letter writing. Reach out to others. It helps foster connection and reduce the sense of isolation.
- Move your body each day. Exercise is super-important for feeling your best.
- Plan to get sunlight each day that it is possible, not only will you feel better, sleep better but Vitamin D is a know immune system booster.
- Be Mindful, Stay in the present moment as much as possible. There is no sense in riding the future train to nowhere. Yoga and meditation help calm the mind and spirit and keep us in the now.
- Limit media…in fact going on a media diet is a great antidote to worry, we don’t need a minute by minute report 24/7
- Engage in activities that are meaningful to you. For some it is taking on learning new skills, others tackling a reading list others organizing and still others doing puzzles. The most important thing is that it is meaningful to you, not what you think you are “supposed’ to be doing.
- Allow yourself the space and permission to grieve the losses you have sustained and also don’t allow yourself to get stuck there. I recently got bogged down over the massacre in Nova Scotia, I tried to move by the grief too quickly and I ended up unable to focus. Once I remembered to let myself grieve I was able to move forward more quickly.
- Be Kind. Being kind is a beautiful thing because it is good both for the giver and the receiver. What can you do today to help someone, something, someplace?
I believe that by having your own PERSONAL PANDEMIC PLAN you will be able to navigate these stormy times more easily, with less stress, less worry and more peace.
As my new hero Dr. Bonnie Henry says ” Be Kind Be Calm Be Safe”.
